Related papers: Molecular Cloud Formation Behind Shock Waves
We perform a complete census of molecular ions with an abundance larger than 1e-10 in the protostellar shock L1157-B1 by means of an unbiased high-sensitivity survey obtained with the IRAM-30m and Herschel/HIFI. By means of an LVG radiative…
We explore the origin of fast molecular outflows that have been observed in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Previous numerical studies have shown that it is difficult to create such an outflow by accelerating existing molecular clouds in the…
(Abridged) The formation of molecular clouds (MCs) from the diffuse interstellar gas appears to be a necessary step for star formation, as young stars invariably occur within them. However, the mechanisms controlling the formation of MCs…
Nearby spiral galaxies show an extremely tight correlation between tracers of molecular hydrogen (H_2) in the interstellar medium (ISM) and tracers of recent star formation, but it is unclear whether this correlation is fundamental or…
Stars form in the dense interiors of molecular clouds. The dynamics and physical properties of the atomic interstellar medium (ISM) set the conditions under which molecular clouds and eventually stars will form. It is, therefore, critical…
We study the evolution of molecular hydrogen on the grain surfaces and in the gas phase using both the rate equation (which tracks the average number of molecules) and the master equation (which tracks the expectation values of molecules).…
Aims. We study the effect of large scale dynamics on the molecular composition of the dense interstellar medium during the transition between diffuse to dense clouds. Methods. We followed the formation of dense clouds (on sub-parsec scales)…
This study focuses on the formation of two molecules of astrobiological importance - glycolaldehyde (HC(O)CH2OH) and ethylene glycol (H2C(OH)CH2OH) - by surface hydrogenation of CO molecules. Our experiments aim at simulating the CO…
(Abridged) Massive stars can determine the evolution of molecular clouds with their strong ultraviolet (UV) radiation fields. Moreover, UV radiation is relevant in setting the thermal gas pressure in star-forming clouds, whose influence can…
Stars form within molecular clouds, so characterizing the physical states of molecular clouds is key in understanding the process of star formation. Cloud structure and stability is frequently assessed using metrics including the virial…
Context: Atomic and molecular cloud formation is a dynamical process. However, kinematic signatures of these processes are still observationally poorly constrained. Methods: Targeting the cloud-scale environment of the prototypical infrared…
In this review, I discuss recent detailed studies of individual molecular clouds in M33 in higher rotational transitions of CO, 13CO, and the fine structure line of atomic carbon. These data reveal that the temperature and density of the…
Molecular clouds (MCs) are the birthplaces of new stars in galaxies. A key component of MCs are photodissociation regions (PDRs), where far-ultraviolet radiation plays a crucial role in determining the gas's physical and chemical state.…
The role of feedback from massive stars is believed to be a key element in the evolution of molecular clouds. We use high-resolution 3D SPH simulations to explore the dynamical effects of a single O7 star located at the centre of a…
We recently reported a population of protostellar candidates in the 20 km s$^{-1}$ cloud in the Central Molecular Zone of the Milky Way, traced by H$_2$O masers in gravitationally bound dense cores. In this paper, we report…
The presence of small amounts of atomic hydrogen, detected as absorption dips in the 21 cm line spectrum, is a well-known characteristic of dark clouds. The abundance of hydrogen atoms measured in the densest regions of molecular clouds can…
Molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) plays a critical role in astrophysical processes from galaxy evolution to the formation of planets. While the dominant formation channel in the interstellar medium is considered as dust-catalyzed H$_2$ formation,…
The abundance of H2 in molecular clouds, relative to the commonly used tracer CO, has only been measured toward a few embedded stars, which may be surrounded by atypical gas. We present observations of near-infrared absorption by H2, CO,…
We have used a coupled dynamical and chemical model to examine the chemical changes induced by the passage of an interstellar shock in well shielded regions. Using this model we demonstrate that the formation of water in a shock will be…
We describe a phenomenological model for molecular hydrogen formation suited for applications in galaxy formation simulations, which includes on-equilibrium formation of molecular hydrogen on dust and approximate treatment of both its…